CO Department Converts Ambulances amid Outbreak

March 18, 2020
The West Metro Fire Department is converting ambulances into isolation units amid the coronavirus pandemic with the back of each unit being sealed off from the cab.

Editor's note: Find Firehouse.com's complete coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic here.

The ambulances at the West Metro Fire Department have been turned into isolation rooms on wheels. The countertops have been cleared, the EKG machines have been bagged, and the back of each ambulance has been sealed off from the cab. This is just part of the fire department’s plan to battle COVID-19.

Fire departments across the state, including Denver, Aurora, Arvada and Fort Lupton, changed the way they do business as the coronavirus spreads. The changes come after 13 Arvada firefighters returned to work Thursday after being in quarantine after potential exposure to the new virus.

All tested negative for COVID-19, Deanna Harrington, public information officer for the Arvada Fire Protection District, said.

Fire departments are screening for symptoms of COVID-19, and they are preparing firefighters and medical staff to enter homes where they may come into contact with a COVID-19 patient.

At the Arvada Fire Department, first responders are also taking precautionary measures inside the fire station.

“We’ve posted signage in case we do have a walk-up person seeking medical care, we’re guiding them to ring the bell and step back six feet so we can screen them before giving them care,” Harrington said. “We are doing our best to keep everyone healthy.”

Fire departments across the Denver area continue dispatching first responders to every emergency call they receive.

“It’s definitely important right now to limit exposure and cross-contamination to the public,” Aurora Fire Department spokeswoman Sherri-Jo Stowell said. “We’re really aware of that right now. But we are still answering every call that comes in.”

The only thing that’s changed is how emergency personnel respond to medical calls, West Metro Fire Rescue spokeswoman Ronda Scholting said.

At West Metro, all medical calls are being treated as possible COVID-19 cases, Scholting said. If a caller says they have flu-like symptoms, dispatchers will ask if the caller has a fever, shortness of breath and if they’ve traveled outside the country in the past 14 days. That information will be passed on to the responding crews, and the firefighters can read the notes from the call as they’re driving to the scene.

As of Saturday, firefighters must be dressed in a protective gown, a mask and eye-protection gear before entering a house where a suspected COVID-19 patient might be. While two paramedics go inside to help the patient, two or three firefighters will wait outside and prepare the ambulance for transport.

“When we start to prepare an ambulance for transport of a suspected COVID-19 patient, we’re taking some precautions as to the exposure in the back of this ambulance,” West Metro Lt. Reed Norwood said in a video detailing the department’s new protocol. “What we’re trying to do is make the back of this ambulance an isolation room so that we can safely transport the patient and our crew to the hospital for care.”

The Denver Fire Department is following the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Captain Greg Pixley said. The extra precautions, such as donning protective gear and sanitizing the ambulances, are meant to protect the public as well as the firefighters.

Fort Lupton Fire Chief Phil Tiffany said first responders are there to provide emergency medical care, but primary care providers can offer advice on what to do before dialing 911.

“We’re trying to limit responders to keep our people healthy and able to respond,” Tiffany said.

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©2020 The Denver Post

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